Category: Politics (2007-2008)

It’s Official: Libby Lied.

How you like them aspens? Scooter Libby is found guilty on 4 of 5 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Valerie Plame case. Sentencing is currently set for June 5th, with a max (although unlikely) penalty of roughly 25 years. Update: “‘We’re not saying that we didn’t think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of,’ said the juror, Denis Collins. ‘But it seemed like he was . . . the fall guy.” One of the jurors argues that Libby seemed like a patsy for higher-ups in the Dubya administration. and prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald seems to agree…is it time for another “accountability moment”?

Gates is Open.

“‘[Y]ou can already feel the stability,’ said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles F. Wald, formerly the deputy U.S. commander in Europe.” A few months into his stint at Dubya’s second SecDef, Robert Gates is “greeted as a liberator” in and around the Pentagon. “‘How much of it is Bob Gates as a personality, manager and leader, and how much of it is Rumsfeld being gone, is hard to say,’ said [Brent] Scowcroft, who has known Gates for 30 years. ‘Rumsfeld was a difficult man to work for.’”

Jefferson, I Still Think We’re Lost.

“‘This is a terrible mistake by the Democratic leadership, to take someone with serious ethical allegations against him and put him on one of the most sensitive and important committees in Congress,’ said Rep. Peter T. King (N.Y.), the ranking Republican on the committee.” The House GOP begin making a stink over William Jefferson’s appointment to the Homeland Security Committee. I hate to say it, but I’m inclined to agree. Jefferson is an ethical embarrassment, and he should’ve been backbenched on everything until his bribery investigation concludes. Surely some other Dem on the committee could’ve taken up the slack with regards to the FEMA issue.

Walton’s Eleven.

Grounds for a mistrial? Let’s hope not. One of the jurors in the Scooter Libby case gets kicked off the jury. “U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered the juror removed, saying ‘what she had exposure to obviously disqualifies her.’ The judge declined to say what information the juror had seen. Walton said the remaining jurors had not been tainted. He said he would allow deliberations to continue with 11 jurors rather than calling on one of two alternate jurors.”

First In, First Out.

“‘This process has become to a great extent about money — a lot of money,’ Vilsack said at a news conference in Des Moines yesterday. ‘And it is clear to me that we would not be able to continue to raise money in the amounts necessary to sustain not just a campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire but a campaign across this country. So it is money and only money that is the reason that we are leaving today.‘” Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, the first entrant into the Democratic race, begs out of the 2008 presidential contest, citing money issues. Well, what did you think was going to determine the winner? Issues?

Libby’s Last Stand.

“‘This is something important, something he was focused on, something he was angry about,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘He had a motive to lie, and…he stole the truth from the justice system.'” The Scooter Libby case goes to the jury, and his flailing defense team doesn’t sound too confident: “‘If you’re not sure, that’s not guilty,’ said attorney Theodore Wells Jr. ‘It’s impossible to say with any degree of certainty that Mr. Libby is engaged in intentional lying.‘“

Whither the Reformer?

True colors, or just a victim of the money madness that afflicts our political process? As he gallops off to all-important Iowa (and tries to ignore the furor over Iraq that’s gotten him linked inexorably with Dubya’s failures), John McCain also appears to be neglecting his campaign finance bona fides in his attempt to gather loot for his presidential bid. “McCain’s allies in the campaign finance reform movement seem resigned to the fact that he will not abide by many of the principles he advocated for a decade as a reformer, including public financing and its associated spending and fundraising limits.“

Surge Protectors.

Although the House passed it last week by a margin of 246-182, the Democratic resolution opposing Dubya’s surge fails to win an airing in the Senate. Although seven Republicans joined the Senate Dems in advancing the bill, it fell short by four votes of the 60 required to initiate debate. “Both sides instead are girding for the next phase, a confrontation over war funding, with some Democrats determined to exercise the power of the purse to influence Iraq strategy.”

Dusty in the Wind | Wilkes (behind) Bars?

Meanwhile, the probes continue: Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, the former #3 man at CIA who was linked to Randy “Duke” Cunninhgam’s bribery operation last year, was indicted yesterday for steering CIA contracts to his GOP cronies and telling them classified information about other bidders. Also indicted, Foggo and Cunningham’s co-conspirator, Mitchell Wade‘s business associate, and GOP fundraiser Brent R. Wilkes, who, among his other alleged crimes, arranged for paid prostitutes for Cunningham as part of the bribe package. “Wilkes, a Republican Party “Pioneer” who raised more than $100,000 for President Bush’s reelection in 2004 [has also] donated — in concert with his business colleagues — $656,396 to 64 other Republican lawmakers and the national Republican Party committees in Washington from 1995 through the third quarter of 2005.“